Mary Lou Pence papers, 1850-1994

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Pence, Mary Lou
Title
Mary Lou Pence papers
Dates
1850-1994 (inclusive)
Quantity
4.83 cubic ft. (12 boxes) + oversize prints
Collection Number
00403
Summary
Mary Lou Pence was an author and journalist who wrote histories of Wyoming and the West. The collection contains research, writings, scrapbook material, and artifacts.
Repository
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Mary Lou Pence (1906-1995) was a journalist and author. She was born in Billings, Montana and received a degree in journalism from the University of Wyoming in 1934. She was the woman's page editor of the Laramie Daily Boomerang, served as editor of Petticoat Politics, a Wyoming women's political newspaper, and wrote feature and news stories for The Denver Post, Portland Oregonian, American Weekly, Empire Magazine, American History Illustrated, and historical journals. She was a life member of Western Writers of America and the National Federation of Press Women. Her books include The Laramie Story, Ghost Towns of Wyoming (co-authored with Lola Homsher), Boswell: The Story of a Frontier Lawman, and Women Who Made the West.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Mary Lou Pence Papers mainly consist of research files and photographs for the writing of her articles, short stories, and books. There are manuscripts, scrapbook material, and a few subject files regarding the professional organizations of which she was a member. There are also copies of her books: The Laramie Story, Ghost Towns of Wyoming (co-authored with Lola Homsher), Boswell: The Story of a Frontier Lawman, and Women Who Made the West, which contains a chapter by her on Polly Pry. In addition, the collection contains artifacts collected by Alfred Pence concerning crime in Wyoming.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Restrictions on Use

Statement on Potentially Harmful Language and Images Found in Collections

The American Heritage Center aspires to approach all areas of our work in ways that are respectful to those who create, use, and are represented in our collections. For a variety of reasons, however, users may encounter offensive or harmful language or images in some of our finding aids, catalogs, and collection materials.

Note that the AHC does not censor or alter contents of the collections as they provide context and evidence of a time, people, place, or event. Therefore, we encourage users to bring questions and concerns about descriptions in our finding aids to our attention via email or anonymous web-form. For more information, read our full statement.

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Related Materials

There are no known other archival collections created by Mary Lou Pence at the date of processing.

Acquisition Information

The Mary Lou Pence Papers were donated to the University of Wyoming in 1985 and 1996 by Dr. and Mrs. William Moore and the Laramie Plains Museum in 2022.

Processing Note

The collection was processed by Loreley Moore in May 1998. Processing was updated by D. Claudia Thompson in January 2012 and Jamie J. Greene in June 2024.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I. Manuscript FilesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1
All That Comes Up Must Come Down by Mari Stone
undated
1 2
Annie M. Bradley
1907-1908, 1958
1 3
Arena Dust
undated
1 4
Boswell: The Story of a Frontier Lawman
1977
1 5
The Brigadier's Wife
1940s
1 6
Charles Washakie
1953
1 7
Clarice Whittenburg Journalism Award Given Annually by Wyoming Press Women
undated
1 8
Clayton Danks (Steamboat)
1902-1969
1 9
Confessions of a Press Woman
1950
1 10
Dogs Are Better Retrievers
1950s
1 11
Ellen Lewis Washakie
1925-1953
1 12
Eliza Stewart
circa 1880s-1980
2 1
Forty Years a Fugitive (Charles Whitney)
1911-1966
2 2
From an Old Lode Mine
1940s
2 3
Ghost Town--Fertility, Montana
1950
2 4
The Grand Encampment of Wyoming
1962
2 5
History and Your Child in a Changing World
undated
2 6
Human Beings
1950
2 7
The Jagged Latigo
undated
2 8
Jennie Chamberlain
undated
2 9
The Laramie Story
1870, 1968
2 10
Lillie Paden
undated
2 11
Marquise De Mores
1891-1901, 1948-1950
2 12
Mary Homsley
1946-1952
2 13
Meadowvale Estate
1950s
3 1
Natawista
circa 1850s, 1957
3 2
Our Children--Their Heritage (Fort Sanders)
undated
3 3
Petticoat Rustler
1951-1982
3 4
Polly Pry
1914-1991
3 5
The Potlatch Bag
undated
3 6
Press on Wheels by Burton De Loney (Transcript of article from Wyoming Annals)
1942
3 7
Remount Ranch
1950
3 8
The Rise of Prairie Rose
undated
3 9
Rose Paden
undated
3 10
Some Little Thing
undated
3 11
Still Riding Trail Herd (Jake Draper)
1890s, 1948-1949
3 12
Tales from the Storied Past
undated
3 13
Their Ghosts Are Many
1950s
3 14
Virginia Tatnail Peacock
1950s
3 15
The West's Memorable Women, Chapters 1-7
1949-1958
4 1
The West's Memorable Women, Chapters 8-17
1949-1958
4 2
Wild West Women (Film Proposal)
1982
4 3
The Woman Who Wouldn't Quit (Mary Powell)
1951
4 4
Wyoming Women Launch Modern Crusade
1954

Series II. Research FilesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
4 5
Adams, Maude and Annie
1905-1916, 1952-1958
4 6
Boswell, N.K
1859-1988
4 7
Bozeman Trail
1956
4 8
Brown, Molly
1912
4 9
Calamity Jane
1953
4 10
Carlisle, Bill
1976
4 11
Chinese Massacre
1885-1886, 1950s
4 12
Coulson, Montana
1878-1957
4 13
Davis, Richard Harding
undated
4 14
Duniway, Abigail Scott
undated
5 1
Early Printing in Wyoming
1936-1942
5 2
Fort Casper, Wyoming
1953
5 3
Fort Laramie
1860s, 1955
5 4
Ghost Towns of Wyoming
1927-1956
5 5
Guthrie, John Appleton Jackson
1964
5 6
Haydee, Rose
1951
5 7
Heath, Lillian (Dr.)
1955
5 8
A History of the Theatrical Activities of Cheyenne, Wyoming from 1867 to 1902, by William Compton Bell
1955
5 9
Horn, Tom
1903-1992
5 10
Johnson, Wesley
1968
5 11
Kelly, Fanny
1956
5 12
Laramie, Jacques
1970
5 13
MacLean, Mary
1949
5 14
Magoffin, Susan Shelby
undated
5 15
Mercer, Asa
1859-1869, 1958
5 16
Mordici, James
1912, 1956
5 17
Old Mother Featherlegs
1951-1978
5 18
Parrott, George
1881-1954
5 19
Penrose, C.B
undated
6 1
Remount Ranch
1941-1990
6 2
Roe, Frances
undated
6 3
Ross, Nellie Tayloe
1972-1983
6 4
Simpson, William
1925, 1959
6 5
Strahorn, Robert
1951-1952
6 6
Sun Dance
1931, 1948
6 7
Tabor, Augusta
1950-1961
6 8
Ten Sleep Raid (Court Transcript)
1909
6 9
Villa, Poncho
1979

Series III. PhotographsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
6 10
Atkinson, Martha Symons
1870
6 11
Atlantic City, Wyoming
1870,1950
6 12
Bald Mountain City, Wyoming
1938
6 13
Bath, Al
1908
6 14
Battle Lake, Wyoming
1903, 1940s
6 15
Bear River City
1868
6 16
Bellamy (Mrs.)
1950
6 17
Benton, Wyoming
1868
6 18
Bessemer Bend, Red Buttes
1870
6 19
Billings, Montana
1882
6 20
Boney Earnest Gang Buffalo Hunters
undated
6 21
Brown, Melville
undated
6 22
Bryan City, Wyoming
undated
6 23
Carbon, Wyoming
1875, 1954
6 24
Carbon County, Wyoming--Herd of Sheep
undated
6 25
Carpenter, JIm
undated
6 26
Cassidy Gang
undated
6 27
Cattle Kate and Jim Averill
undated
6 28
Cheyenne, Wyoming
1868
6 29
Chief Washakie, Shoshone Tribe and the Wind River Reservation
1870-1920s
6 30
Cook, Al (Mrs.)
undated
6 31
Cora, Charles and Jim Casey
1862
6 32
Cosby, Charles
1927
6 33
Cowboys on the Range
1903
6 34
Dale Creek Bridge, Wyoming
1868
6 35
Dillon, Wyoming
undated
7 1
Downey, Melville (Family)
undated
7 2
Duggan, Sanford
undated
7 3
Falling Leaf Burial Site (Daughter of Spotted Tail)
1866
7 4
Fetterman Massacre
undated
7 5
Fort Reno, Wyoming
1866
7 6
Fort Sanders, Wyoming
1875, 1920
7 7
Fort Steele, Wyoming
undated
7 8
Fremont, Jessie Benton
undated
7 9
Gardner Kellogg and M.R. Maddocks Store
1868
7 10
Green River Station, Wyoming
undated
7 11
Hanging of Asa Moore, Con Wager and Ned Wilson
undated
7 12
Holland, Bob
1871
7 13
Indian Chiefs: Weasel Bear, Red Cloud, Red Shirt, Long Soldier, Little Bull, and Loud Voice Haw
undated
7 14
Ivinson, Edward and Jane
1904
7 15
James, Frank (Broadside)
undated
7 16
Jelm, Wyoming
undated
7 17
Jireh, Wyoming
1909-1910
7 18
Johnson, Coffee
undated
7 19
Krause, Della
undated
7 20
Laramie, Wyoming
1876-1904
7 21
Larimer, Sarah
undated
7 22
Las Vegas, Nevada
1904
7 23
Leadville, Colorado
undated
7 24
Mc Adow, Farm Near Coulson, Montana
1882
7 25
Mandel, Phil
1870
7 26
Mathison, Neil
1906
7 27
Medora, Wyoming
1919
7 28-33
Mines--Wyoming : Cambria Coal Mines; Ferris-Haggerty; Grand Encampment; Miner's Delight Mine Head; Rudelfa; and Soloman
1903-1950s
7 34
Morris, Esther
1976
7 35
Percy Cut--Union Pacific Rotary Snow Plow
1917
7 36
Perry, Oda William, Age 4 Months
undated
7 37
Phillips, Portugee
undated
7 38
Railroad Tie Camps
undated
7 39
Rambler, Wyoming
circa 1897
7 40
Ranches--Wyoming, Clifford, Near Cheyenne
undated
8 1-4
Ranches--Wyoming: Goose Egg, Bessemer; Lak, Weston County; Stockade Beaver, Weston County; and Two Bar
undated
8 5
Rawlins, Wyoming
1882
8 6
Red Cloud (Indian Chief)
undated
8 7
Riverside, Wyoming
undated
8 8
Rock Creek, Wyoming
1899
8 9
Sacajawea
undated
8 10
Salt Creek, Wyoming
undated
8 11
Salt Lake City, Utah
undated
8 12
Sherman Station, Wyoming
1868
8 13
Silver Cliff Stage Station and Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage Coach
undated
8 14
Slosson Family
undated
8 15
South Pass City, Wyoming
1953
8 16
Sterling, James
undated
8 17
Swain, Eliza
1870
8 18
Thermopolis, Wyoming
undated
8 19
Trabing, George
undated
8 20
Uinta, Utah
undated
8 21
Unidentified Portraits
undated
8 22
Union Pacific Broadside for Trans-Continental Trip
1869
8 23
Union Pacific Typical Station
circa 1870
8 24
Union Pacific Water Tank
undated
8 25
University of Wyoming Extracurricular Groups
1900
8 26
Widdowfield, Robert and Tip Vincent Death Site
undated
8 27
Wilcox Train Robbery
1899
8 28
Young, Steve
1868-1943
8 29
Younger, Cole (Broadside)
undated
11
Negatives:
1868-1976
Box Folder
11
Scans on museum computer, Boswell
1868-1976
11
Frankie Rae - Army wife with pet
1868-1976
11
Montana. 1. Coulson, 1882-1883, Shot of Belgs. 2. 2 from Parmolie Libr. Belgs.
1882-1883
11
Mary Lou Pence Building U.P.
1868-1976
11
Indians: Red Shirt etc. group. Sundance - later date - Mrs. Far load, Lander
1868-1976
11
Fort Steele - present day
1868-1976
11
Tubb Town negatives, drawings Shuttheis (ghost towns)
1868-1976
11
Forts: Reno, Phil Kearney, Bridger (Jackson); 1. Laramie with Phillips, rider drawing
1868-1976
11
Anne Tedgump, St. Clair, Washakie, and J.K. Moore
1868-1976
11
Carrington return to massacre scene, Mrs. Drummand Carrington
1868-1976
11
Mormons Trek, Utah, Jackson
1868-1976
11
Western Ranch negatives, Draper Collection
1868-1976
11
1. Pioneers "Building the Cabin" - Harpers Weekly 2. Crossing - trading a stream
1868-1976
11
1. Maggie Jobin Broeon 2. and Tilance Crew
1868-1976
11
Miscellaneous negatives
1868-1976

Series IV. Subject FilesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
8 30
Arena Auditorium Dedication Committee
1980
8 31
Ghost Towns of Wyoming--Publication
1954-1988
8 32
Governor's Residence Library
1967-1990
8 33
National Association for Outlaw and Lawman History
1981-1984
8 34
National Federation of Press Women
1947-1988
8 35
Petticoat Politics
1953-1954
8 36
Sweet Creek County War Movie
1980
8 37
Western Writers of America
1975-1983

Series V. Scrapbook MaterialReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
9 1
Certificates, Awards, and Programs
1942-1983
9 2
Newspaper Clippings
1941-1994
9 3
Photographs
1940s-1980s

Series VI. BooksReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
9 4
"Boswell: The Story of a Frontier Lawman", by Mary Lou Pence
1978
9 5-6
"Ghost Towns of Wyoming", by Mary Lou Pence and Lola Homsher
1956
9 7
"The Laramie Story" by Mary Lou Pence
1968, 1987
9 8
"The Women Who Made the West", a Chapter by Mary Lou Pence
1980
9 9
"Wyoming Place Names", by Mae Urbank (autographed)
1967

Series VII. ArtifactsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
10
Gavel Used by Judge Charles E. Carpenter in an Attempt to Bring Order an Angry Mob Who Had Seized Joe Martin. Gavel Was Used Until 1932 When the Old Court House was Razed
1904
10A
Guns: .22 Caliber Baby Hammerless Owned by Juanita Kakedkas; .32 Caliber Colt Used by David Bell to Kill Silas Jamison on April 28, 1936; .32 Caliber Harrington and Richardson Used by Mr. Blake in 1933 in a Gunfight with Gus Kakedkas and a .38 Caliber JMM Used by Gus Kakedkas to Shoot Mr. Blake
1932-1936
10A
Grenade Used for Training
circa 1940s
10
Marked Deck of Cards Used at the Alpine Club, Alpine, Idaho
undated
10
Printing Blocks Used for a "Casper Star Tribune" Newspaper Article About Lester C. Hunt and Ownership of the Original Wyoming Suffrage Act
1954
10
Spur (broken and rusted)
undated

Series VIII. PrintsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Art Storage
By William Henry Jackson, 4' x 5': Bessemer Bend; Bridge on the North Platte River; and Green River Rendezvous
undated

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Women--Wyoming

Personal Names

  • Boswell, Nathaniel Kimball, 1836-1921.

Geographical Names

  • West (U.S.)--History.
  • Laramie (Wyo.)--History
  • Wyoming-- History, 1946-1999.
  • Wyoming--History, 1890-1918.
  • Wyoming--History, 1919-1945.
  • Wyoming--History, To 1889.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Artifacts.
  • Photographs.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Pence, Mary Lou : Boswell, the story of a frontier lawman.
    • Pence, Mary Lou : Laramie story.